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 Forum index » Chaotic Fiction » Marble Hornets
[OOG] On the use of the "Where's Waldo" effect
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DJay32
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Joined: 10 Dec 2010
Posts: 87
Location: The garden party

 		[OOG] On the use of the "Where's Waldo" effect
How they're still using it effectively, and why I'm excited for future entries
Hello. I've noticed a lot of people around here mentioning a lack of the so-called "Where's Waldo/Wally" effect, and I really disagree. I think the series is making a change in something, but I think it's doing a nice job at horror still.

What is the "Where's Waldo" effect?
It's arguably one of the best parts of the slender man mythos. You watch a video all the way through, looks completely normal, but then you watch it again and pay close attention to the background? Turns out there's been a certain slender man back there this whole time. Bricks come out of your bottom.

Marble Hornets Part 1 practically invented the video version of this for slendy, and all was well in good. The Operator would usually be in the background and not making much of a fuss.

Marble Hornets Part 2 seems to be changing things up. The Operator has only appeared about.. three times, and every single time, it was the focus of the shot. In Entry #29, it was frozen on-screen for a while, in the center of the shot. In Entry #40, it was also in the center of the shot, and twice, for that matter. In Entry #43, it was also in the center of the shot. Twice. Fans have taken this to mean the Operator is just the focus now, not in the background like it used to be.

However, I think the series hasn't been ignoring the aforementioned effect at all; rather, I think it's been playing with it. Before Entry #40, we were fully expecting the Operator to show up in the background, so we'd be constantly looking in the background.

Let me direct your attention to Entry #30. Somewhere towards the end, as Jessica opens the door, you can see a face behind her in the darkness. It's quite a hard-to-spot face, and I didn't even see it until it was explicitly pointed out and I had to watch the video again. But when I did, I freaked out. It was there the whole time, every time I watched it, but I only just now spotted it. That's the "Where's Waldo effect" used properly.

Now, how about Entry #40? Towards the start, we get a beautiful shot of the park outside. In the background, we have a tree. There was a little something sticking out of said tree. It's not even something you can easily notice. But fans kept arguing over whether it was a leg or a root, and just when we thought it didn't even matter, totheark's Intermission came around to show us he was watching Jay from a spot somewhere around there. Fans continued to argue, and then Entry #42 showed us the tree again, this time with no "root" there at all. All this time, someone was watching Jay. Watching us. Always in the background.

In aforementioned Entry #42, in the background during one shot, you can see a man by a tree. Granted, we still don't know if this just happened to be a random bystander, or if this was intentional. But the fact is, he's in the background, he's hard to spot most of the time, he looks like Hoody, and he's there for the attentive viewers to spot.

The Operator got plenty of these types of scares in the first 26 entries, but that's the first 26 entries. I think we will get more of that type of thing from our slender friend in the entries to come, and that the Operator's up-front appearances so far have just been to let us know that "slendy's back."

But we must also keep a constant watch for other "Waldos." Because Jay's followers are keeping a constant watch on him.

And thanks to all this, personally, I'm terrified of what might come. There's clearly some kind of build-up going on here. Personally, I'm hoping for Skully, but that's just me. .w.; It's clear that Troy and the gang have a good grip on the horror they're giving. They've just been relying on a more direct thing for the people who'll only be watching the entries once or twice. But there's still plenty of secrets for us regular obsessive watchers. And daaah, I'm excited for all future entries. >w<

..sorry. I thank you for your time. This is just my take on things. I feel like the series has a big sense of danger, prominent danger to it, y'know? ^^; And I guess that's why. I'll shut up now.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:53 pm
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pepsikola963
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Joined: 14 Apr 2011
Posts: 50

 		^This a thousand times over.

Really nice job man, I don't think anyone could have summed this up better than you did. I completely agree with you on recent entries where its just like "oh there's slendy" and even though it has the adrenaline factor going, I don't have those same paranoia feeling I normally get. And I tried to find the face in entry 30 but I couldn't find it Sad. I guess no brick dropping for me until the next entry.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:25 pm
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FossilizedSauce
Unfettered

Joined: 13 Jul 2011
Posts: 415

 		I'm pretty sure the thing in 30 isn't a face, but a reflection off of a lamp or something. Otherwise, this is a great explanation! Not much to add to this, other than praise. Razz

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:31 pm
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onetruepurple
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Joined: 07 Jan 2011
Posts: 570

 		Entry #27: at the end of the corridor, there's a black closet(?) with a potted plant on it. From far enough it gives the illusion of looking like the Operator.

Entry #28: the shadow cast by the backpack vaguely looks humanoid with thin arms = implying the Operator.

They're not real sightings but I'll be damned if they were coincidences and not Troy messing with us.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:48 pm
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InfernoZN
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Joined: 08 Jul 2011
Posts: 18

Glad someone else realizes that Joseph and Troy are a lot smarter than they look! I'm super excited for the series right now, I feel like every time something might seem off it was totally intentional, they don't do things by accident. Like how entry 42 really made me think Jay and Alex looked really stupid trying to solve the whole situation on their own, I mean they're just normal dudes. And then totheark responded talking about how much time was wasted and I knew that that was exactly what I was supposed to think. I can't wait for 44, it's gonna be sweet.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:29 pm
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WhyYouBawwing
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Joined: 05 May 2011
Posts: 516

 		inb4 someone claims skully's just a spliced-in picture from grim fandango
EDIT: I don't mean for this to degrade into another mask-argument, I just like OP's proposal for us to play Where's Skully
grim-fandango-melange.jpg
 Description   proof that that claim is fulla shite
(honestly please point out which character's face is skully's)
 Filesize   28.15KB
 Viewed   728 Time(s)

grim-fandango-melange.jpg

PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:40 am
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Nickjackal
Decorated


Joined: 21 Mar 2011
Posts: 156
Location: All around the mulberry bush, TN

 		Excellent summary. I haven't been paying enough attention to the background unless I've been looking for Slendy.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:09 am
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